Bicycle Use and Safety In Paris, Boston, and Amsterdam Export

@article{citeulike:3502078, abstract = {This article examines bicycle use and safety behavior in Paris, Boston, and Amsterdam. Population-adjusted bicycle and passenger car death rates in France, the United States, and The Netherlands provide context for understanding bicycle use and safety behavior. Observation data on helmet use and use of lights at night are also presented. Boston has the fewest bicycles per hour at 55, Paris is next at 74, compared to 242 cyclists per hour in Amsterdam. Thirty-two percent of Boston cyclists wore helmets versus only 2.4\% of Paris cyclists and only 0.1\% of Amsterdam cyclists. In contrast, Paris cyclists were far more likely to use lights at night (45.2\%), than Boston cyclists (15.6\%) or Amsterdam cyclists (7.6\%). With bicycle and car deaths as the numerators, and the French, U.S., and Dutch populations as the denominators, the Netherlands appears to have a dramatically lower death rate for people in passenger cars and for the combined group of cyclists and passenger car occupants. Transportation safety policies in the Netherlands appear to be working better than policies in the U.S. or France. Politicians, transportation planners, and safety experts can learn a lot from the Dutch about how to promote cycling and build a safe bicyclefriendly environment. From the conclusion: Since 1990, all three countries (France, United States, and the Netherlands) have passed major national legislation promoting bicycling. Deaths and injuries in the Netherlands could be further reduced if Dutch bicyclists wore helmets and used lights at night. However, American experts are in no position to lecture the Dutch about bicycle safety; rather we need to look to the Netherlands for ideas on promoting cycling and building safe bicycle-friendly environments. We believe five factors explain the lower combined car/cycle death rates in the Netherlands. 1. Potential car drivers are instead riding bicycles. 2. The heavy focus on cyclist, driver, and pedestrian education has produced mostly careful and courteous travelers. 3. Separation of different types of traffic in certain areas has eliminated intravehicle conflict (i.e., truck versus tricycle). 4. Traffic calming (Grava 1993), including woonerf zones, has slowed traffic and reduced injuries, as intended. 5. The dense population in the Netherlands makes it possible for people to carry on their day-to-day activities closer to home, thus reducing miles traveled, traffic congestion, and potential injuries and deaths. In the transportation arena, the Netherlands is a terrific model of another way of doing business. A bicycle-friendly environment was created through great political will (Horman 1995) and innovative long-term traffic planning. Consequently, today Dutch citizens are able to choose sustainable and healthy cycling over driving a car for many of their day-to-day trips. A combination of segregated bicycle lanes, integrated bicycle and motor vehicle lanes, and extensive education, has created a climate where bicycling is considered a safe and practical option, which many people choose. Although the Dutch model cannot be replicated everywhere, the model does contain important lessons about urban traffic flow and public safety as well as sustainability and quality of life.}, author = {Osberg, Scott J. and Stiles, Sarah C.}, citeulike-article-id = {3502078}, journal = {Transportation Quarterly}, keywords = {accident, automobiles, bicycle, bicycle\_lanes, bicycling, commuting, crashes, helmet, policy, risk, safety, statistics, traffic, training}, number = {4}, pages = {61--76}, posted-at = {2008-11-11 00:16:57}, priority = {2}, title = {Bicycle Use and Safety In Paris, Boston, and Amsterdam}, volume = {52}, year = {1998} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3502078 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3502078 N2 - This article examines bicycle use and safety behavior in Paris, Boston, and Amsterdam. Population-adjusted bicycle and passenger car death rates in France, the United States, and The Netherlands provide context for understanding bicycle use and safety behavior. Observation data on helmet use and use of lights at night are also presented. Boston has the fewest bicycles per hour at 55, Paris is next at 74, compared to 242 cyclists per hour in Amsterdam. Thirty-two percent of Boston cyclists wore helmets versus only 2.4% of Paris cyclists and only 0.1% of Amsterdam cyclists. In contrast, Paris cyclists were far more likely to use lights at night (45.2%), than Boston cyclists (15.6%) or Amsterdam cyclists (7.6%). With bicycle and car deaths as the numerators, and the French, U.S., and Dutch populations as the denominators, the Netherlands appears to have a dramatically lower death rate for people in passenger cars and for the combined group of cyclists and passenger car occupants. Transportation safety policies in the Netherlands appear to be working better than policies in the U.S. or France. Politicians, transportation planners, and safety experts can learn a lot from the Dutch about how to promote cycling and build a safe bicyclefriendly environment. From the conclusion: Since 1990, all three countries (France, United States, and the Netherlands) have passed major national legislation promoting bicycling. Deaths and injuries in the Netherlands could be further reduced if Dutch bicyclists wore helmets and used lights at night. However, American experts are in no position to lecture the Dutch about bicycle safety; rather we need to look to the Netherlands for ideas on promoting cycling and building safe bicycle-friendly environments. We believe five factors explain the lower combined car/cycle death rates in the Netherlands. 1. Potential car drivers are instead riding bicycles. 2. The heavy focus on cyclist, driver, and pedestrian education has produced mostly careful and courteous travelers. 3. Separation of different types of traffic in certain areas has eliminated intravehicle conflict (i.e., truck versus tricycle). 4. Traffic calming (Grava 1993), including woonerf zones, has slowed traffic and reduced injuries, as intended. 5. The dense population in the Netherlands makes it possible for people to carry on their day-to-day activities closer to home, thus reducing miles traveled, traffic congestion, and potential injuries and deaths. In the transportation arena, the Netherlands is a terrific model of another way of doing business. A bicycle-friendly environment was created through great political will (Horman 1995) and innovative long-term traffic planning. Consequently, today Dutch citizens are able to choose sustainable and healthy cycling over driving a car for many of their day-to-day trips. A combination of segregated bicycle lanes, integrated bicycle and motor vehicle lanes, and extensive education, has created a climate where bicycling is considered a safe and practical option, which many people choose. Although the Dutch model cannot be replicated everywhere, the model does contain important lessons about urban traffic flow and public safety as well as sustainability and quality of life. IS - 4 JF - Transportation Quarterly EP - 76 TI - Bicycle Use and Safety In Paris, Boston, and Amsterdam VL - 52 SP - 61 KW - accident KW - automobiles KW - bicycle KW - bicycle_lanes KW - bicycling KW - commuting KW - crashes KW - helmet KW - policy KW - risk KW - safety KW - statistics KW - traffic KW - training AU - Osberg, Scott AU - Stiles, Sarah PY - 1998///Fall ER -